DALLAS TWP. – Sometimes Mark Belenski would like the Dallas boys basketball program to move even faster, but after another dominant defensive effort Tuesday night, the Mountaineers coach acknowledged his team is ahead of schedule.
“Last year, we won eight games,” Belenski said after holding visiting Tunkhannock to six first-half points in a 58-27 Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1-2 crossover game. “Our goal this year, I said all summer, is we have to win 8 ½ games.
“We’re at eight. I just put that up on the board for them. We have 10 games left.”
Based on the results so far – the Mountaineers are 4-2 in the WVC and 8-4 overall – and, with the number of chances left, they are extremely likely to surpass last season’s total.
“I’m an aggressive guy and I want it to happen overnight,” said Belenski, who won a state championship while coaching at Bishop O’Reilly and is in his second year at Dallas. “It’s taking time. They’re improving quickly and I like what I see.
“ … Where the program’s going, I’m happy with that.”
Tunkhannock has already exceeded last year’s win total of six in its first year under coach Spencer Lunger, who coached at Mountain View until returning to his alma mater. The Division 2 team is 8-3 overall and also 4-2 in the WVC, but struggled in its first game against a Division 1 opponent as it entered a significantly tougher stretch in the schedule.
The Tigers ran into a Dallas defense that has been disrupting opposing offenses.
The Mountaineers held Lake-Lehman to 23 points early in the season. Eleven days earlier, they had given up just nine first-half points against a Pittston Area team that has scored 69 and 74 in the two games since.
Tuesday’s effort may have topped those.
Dallas held Tunkhannock to an 0-for-12 start while opening a 17-2 lead on Alex Charlton’s 3-pointer from the right wing early in the second quarter. The Tigers needed 9:08 to hit their first field goal on Tyler Faux’s runner in the lane.
Then, after making consecutive baskets, Tunkhannock went 8:32 without scoring again as Dallas scored 24 straight points to take a 41-6 lead.
Ethan Hoefert’s three-point play with 5:16 remaining in the third quarter started an 11-1 surge by the Tigers, featuring six points by Sean Harder, but it was much too late.
“Our defense is what got us going tonight,” Belenski said. “That’s what we pride ourselves on and we played well on the defensive end.
“Then, we made shots. That’s a carryover.”
Jay Bittner shot 7-for-11 while leading Dallas with 15 points and three steals.
Nick Kocher had six points and four rebounds in the first quarter. He finished with eight points, a team-high six rebounds and three steals. Ben Donahue came off the bench to score all eight of his points in the second quarter.
Joey Parsons, Ethan Szczecinski and Charlton also contributed to the balanced effort. Parsons had seven points and five rebounds. Szczecinski had six points and three steals. Charlton had six points and four steals.
Harder led Tunkhannock in points with eight and assists with three.
